BEIRUT: The head of the police unit at Roumieh prison denied a local newspaper report published Tuesday that said a tunnel had been discovered under Lebanon’s largest jail.

The daily Ad-Diyar said the tunnel was discovered by prison guards in the aftermath of a severe winter storm that hit Lebanon last week.

“This report is completely unfounded,” said Col. Amer Zailaa, the head of the police unit at Roumieh prison, northeast of Beirut.

“All the buildings at Roumieh prison are reinforced with concrete walls five meters deep into the ground,” Zailaa told The Daily Star.

“Furthermore, there is a concrete wall surrounding the prison that is two meters thick and six meters deep. No one can penetrate it,” he added.